Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher.

“As soon as the soles of my worn loafers hit pavement outside the school, my proximity with Kasim breaks and the queasiness is back. The emotions that Kasim’s closeness had tempered come raging forth so quickly, I pitch over from their impact in my gut.”

With six vices to his brother’s six virtues, and only one virtue of his own, Auben Mtuze is what society calls a lesser twin, just like his mother. While his aunt and cousins live in luxury on the other side of the wall, Auben’s family ekes out a living inside the confines of the slums. One day his brother Kasim, a greater twin, might hope to rise up, but will he, like so many before him, leave his lesser twin behind when he goes? Growing up often means growing apart, even for bonded twins who can temper one another by their presence. Auben and Kasim have always been close, but when Auben begins hearing voices that goad him to indulge his vices, and he develops an inexplicable craving for blood, their fragile bond may be stretched to the breaking point, and beyond.

Nicky Drayden sets her sophomore novel in an alternate South Africa with its own unique mythology and history. Through the process of Discernment, twins are branded early with the distribution of their vices and virtues. Lesser twins, and singletons—those born without a twin—are both looked down upon. Religion teaches that the first twins were the gods Grace and Icy Blue, one all virtue, the other all vice, and that all twins are their creations. Secular science teaches than twins and kigen—male/female fraternal twin pairs that have shared DNA in the womb and thus created additional genders—are the result of genetics, but science is secretive and supressed in this world. These distinctions and classes set up a world that is rife with tension, both within and between families.

In both Temper and her first novel, The Prey of the Gods, Drayden is interested in examining what separates gods from people. In her worlds, these boundaries are decidedly imperfect, and even permeable, particularly when science and religion meet. Kasim and Auben are deliberately raised secular, but their six-and-one tempering places them at the extreme, and sends them searching for answers in all directions, including to Gabadamosi, the elite religious private school their cousins attend. Though this world is supposedly ruled by Grace and his virtues, it proves to be a no less complicated place than the slums, albeit with different dangers, because even the virtuous are human, with myriad talents for screwing things up.

On her website, Drayden lists her favourite authors as Neal Stephenson, Octavia Butler, and Christopher Moore, a blend which accurately evokes the atmosphere of her two books to date, combining Stephenson and Butler’s grimmer sci-fi talents with Moore’s weirdness and humour. Drayden describes Temper as “a story caught somewhere between dark fantasy and horror.” Certainly there is an element of the surreal about her work, as well an ambitious, genre-spanning scope. I quickly learned to stop trying to predict what was going to happen, and simply go along for the ride as Drayden raced through a plot that could easily have been stretched over multiple volumes in the hands of a different writer. Unlike The Prey of the Gods’ multiple narrators, Temper is told only from Auben’s perspective, but it still covers a lot of ground. Every plot twist left me pleasantly stunned by Drayden’s weirdly fresh imagination.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this title from the publisher through the Harper Voyager Super Reader Program.

“If there’s one rule in planning for world domination, it’s to make sure you look good doing so.”

South Africa, 2064. Sydney, a debased demi-goddess with dwindling powers, schemes to find enough fear, blood, and belief to feed on to return to her heyday. A new designer drug is hitting the market, and unleashing the divine potential of seemingly ordinary humans, and in it Sydney sees the possibility of chaos such as the world has not experienced for a long time. Meanwhile, her old mentor Mr. Tau is preparing to release a new demi-goddess into the world, one who may help her or undermine her, depending on how Sydney plays her cards. Can a pop star, two gay teens, a little girl, a politician, and a robot foil her plans?

To be honest, it is hard to give a concise, non-spoilery plot summary of The Prey of the Gods. There are at least eight point of view characters, and a lot of seemingly disparate elements that have to come together in this unusual novel. The book has elements of both fantasy and science fiction, as well as a distinct sense of humour. Sydney is a demigoddess, and mythology forms the underpinning of the story, but it is science that unleashes the action. The new drug hitting the market seems like a hallucinogen, but is really tapping into the divine potential of humans, including powers such as mind reading and manipulation that will create unprecedented chaos as they spread through the population. Meanwhile, the ubiquitous personal robots belonging to the human cast are gaining sentience, and questioning their role in society.

Perhaps the book’s strongest feature is its diverse and interesting cast of characters. I was particularly drawn to Nomvula, the young Zulu girl, and Councilman Stoker, the cross-dressing politician with a secret life as a drag performer who is starting to realize that he just might be trans. Drayden has also created an interesting character in Riya Natrajan, a fairly unlikeable pop diva who has been faking a drug problem to hide a more serious chronic medical condition from the public. Additional points of view come from Muzi, who is struggling with a crush on his best friend, Elkin, and This Instance, later named Clever 4-1, Muzi’s newly sentient personal robot. The mix of characters is exactly as odd and intriguing as you would expect, but works well once the reader gets everyone straight, and especially after the narratives begin to overlap.

Part of what gives nuance to the large cast is the theme of family, which is important for each character in different ways. When the book opens, Muzi is about to be circumcised not because he wants to, but because he knows that going through this traditional rite of passage will please his grandfather, whose approval he craves. Much of Riya’s backstory is defined by her mother’s death, and the complications that ensued in her relationship with her father, who she has not spoken to in years. Nomvula has grown up before her time caring for her sickly mother, with no father or siblings. When Mr. Tau and Sydney come along, her desire for family connections will change everything. Councilman Wallace Stoker is less interested in politics than music, but pressure to continue the familial political legacy keeps him from pursuing his dreams, or realizing his true identity. His domineering mother has her eye on the premier’s office, and will let nothing get in the way of her son achieving that landmark.

The Prey of the Gods is a humourous, genre bending romp through the near future, fearlessly mixing and matching demi-goddesses and robots, pop stars and politicians. Although it takes a while to settle in and get a handle on all the moving pieces of this narrative, the result is fresh and unexpected.

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I do not receive compensation for writing reviews. ARCs and other books are accepted with the understanding that I will share my honest opinion. Read my review policy to learn more. All posts for which I have received a copy of the book from the author or publisher are clearly marked in compliance with FTC regulations.